Beckham still on track for finals as he tackles Milan contract

David Beckham believes his World Cup prospects are still on track
despite his shock omission from the England team for last night's
penultimate qualifier against Ukraine last night.

Although the former skipper has been nursing a tendon injury which
forced him to miss a recent game for LA Galaxy, the official comment
from the England camp was: 'Nobody is injured.'

Confident: David Beckham

Fabio Capello's preference for the right-flank spot was Tottenham's Aaron Lennon, before he made way for David James after keeper Robert Green's red card, and his apparent second choice was Aston Villa's James Milner, who came on as a substitute.

Beckham will be hoping that the England coach was exploring all his options and that he will be back in the fold for Wednesday's qualifying finale against Belarus at Wembley. The word from the Beckham camp last night was that, in spite of missing out on his 115th cap, the 34-year-old midfielder is optimistic about being involved in South Africa.

Beckham is still negotiating the loan deal with AC Milan that he hopes will ensure Capello continues to pick him.

The former England skipper expects to finalise the contract with the Serie A outfit within the next couple of weeks, but it will be on a more rewarding financial basis than the agreement he had with the Italians last season, when he subsidised the move out of his own pocket.

According to a source close to the player, Beckham is aware of the financial problems at Milan and will not ask for the kind of money he could earn elsewhere.

'There are a couple of things which need to be sorted out but we don't anticipate any problems,' said the source. 'The main thing is David wants to go back to Milan because he enjoyed it so much when he was there before.'